On Thu, Oct 14, 1999 at 02:42:03AM -0400, Vikas Aggarwal wrote:
> It has been hard to dedicate time to development of nocol, and
> contributions have been pretty few. I can work on enhancing this package
> but I do need some dedicated time and support from others in the list
> also.
This is understandable, as someone who hasn't got enough time to do
any of 20 different outstanding patches to various bits of software, I
understand.
> The current release has a lot of contributions from users in the field,
> and that has helped NOCOL grow to its current stage (web interface, perl
> interface, paging, etc.). If there is support from others on this list,
> then I can coordinate enhancing the package and adding new features.
This is the first "problem". Let me expand later.
> If there are folks willing to take up some of the above responsibilities
> and dedicate about a month's effort, I think we can roll out a new release
> with most of the above features by November end.
>
> If you think you can take up a piece of this list above, then please send
> email and I can _actively_ start working with you all on the next
> release... but I _need_ your support to do this.
I think that the problem with NOCOL, while trying very hard not to
bring personalities into it, it that while open source, NOCOL is
"closed". The catherdral and the bazaar all over again. The cathedral
model (which I personally prefer for stable, solid code) only works if
the architect is full time, like Apache, *BSD's etc. NOCOL, as you
say, has not been getting the attention from you that it may get
elsewhere, but while the development cycle is closed people will
continue to make local hack or move on to other projects.
NOCOL was great in its day, but other packages, in my personal view
NetSaint, have jumped over NOCOL in leaps and bounds. I do not believe
that my companies resources (yes, we actually have decided to put some
real time into this) would be best served by trying to kick start
NOCOL development back up, but rather by support a "live" project like
NetSaint.
Sorry for being so direct, I hope I have not offended.
Regards,
--
Peter Galbavy
Knowledge Matters Ltd
http://www.knowledge.com/
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